Australia at the 2018 Winter Paralympics

Australia sent a team of 12 athletes and three guides to the 2018 Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang, Korea. Australia finished 15th on the medal table and it was its fourth best medal performance at the Winter Paralympics.

Australia at the
2018 Winter Paralympics
IPC codeAUS
NPCAustralian Paralympic Committee
Websitewww.paralympic.org.au
in PyeongChang, Korea
Competitors15 in 2 sports
Flag bearerJoany Badenhorst (Opening)
Melissa Perrine (Closing)
Medals
Ranked 15th
Gold
1
Silver
0
Bronze
3
Total
4
Winter Paralympics appearances (overview)

Medallists
Medal Name Sport Event Date
 Gold Simon Patmore Snowboarding Snowboard cross SB-UL 12 March
 Bronze Simon Patmore Snowboarding Snowboard banked SB-UL 16 March
 Bronze Melissa Perrine
Guide: Christian Geiger		 Alpine skiing Super combined B & VI 13 March
 Bronze Melissa Perrine
Guide: Christian Geiger		 Alpine skiing Giant slalom B & VI 14 March

Team Preparation

It was expected that the final Australian team would be between 10 and 12 athletes across two sports – para-alpine skiing and para-snowboard. There is the aim to finish in the top 15 nations on the medal table, as per the target set by the Australian Sports Commission’s Australia’s Winning Edge policy.[1] The team will be missing previous Winter Paralympic Games medallists - Cameron Rahles-Rahbula, Toby Kane and Jessica Gallagher.[1]

The Australian Paralympic Committee expects Mitchell Gourley, Melissa Perrine, Joany Badenhorst and Ben Tudhope to be medal contenders.[1]

The Australian Sports Commission provided Ski and Snowboard Australia the following funding for Australia's Winter Paralympic high performance program: 2014/15 = $934,478:[2] 2015/16 - $934,478;[3] 2016/17 - $934,478;[4] 2017/18 - $1,009,478 [5]

Administration
Nick Dean, Australian Paralympic administrator

In March 2017, Nick Dean was appointed Chef de Mission. He previously served as Chef de Mission at the Lillehammer 1994, Nagano 1998 and Salt Lake City 2002 Games and was Deputy Chef de Mission for a further three Winter and two Summer Paralympic Games between 1992 and 2012.[1]

Team Support [6]
PositionPerson
Chef de MissionNick Dean
General Manager,
Paralympic Performance & Out of Village		Paul Kiteley
Team Attaché and SecurityMelissa Riethmuller
General Manager, CommunicationsTim Mannion
Head Coach, AlpineChris McKnight
Coach, AlpineCraig Branch
Head Coach, SnowboardLukas Prem
Ski TechnicianCurtis Christian
Ski TechnicianRyan Pearl
Snowboard TechnicianTony Horne
Chief Medical OfficerDr Geoff Thompson
PhysiotherapistJustin Wray
PhysiotherapistTom Peters
PsychologistKristine Dunn
Team LeaderAnnie McCormack
Operations ManagerShellee Ferguson
IT and Operations ManagerBen Troy
Media Liaison OfficerSascha Ryner
Media Liaison OfficerMargie McDonald
VideographerBrett Frawley
Vice-President APCJock O'Callaghan
CEO APCLynne Anderson

Team

Mitchell Gourley and Joany Badenhorst were announced team co-captains in October 2017.[7] On 20 February 2018, Australian Paralympic Committee announced a team of 13 athletes.[8] Shaun Pianta and sighted guide Jeremy O'Sullivan were selected in the team on 6 March but Pianta will be required to pass a final fitness test on his injured right knee ahead of his Paralympic debut on March 14.[9]

The final team of 12 athletes and three sighted guides is the largest Australian team to compete at a Winter Paralympic Games.[9]

Joany Badenhorst was named the Opening Ceremony flag bearer, the first female Australian Winter Paralympian to be given this honour.[10] Melissa Perrine was given the honour of the Closing Ceremony flag bearer due to her competing at three Winter Games and winning two bronze medals in PyeongChang.[11]

Events

Alpine skiing
Women
Athlete Event Final Date
Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Rank
Melissa Perrine /
Christian Geiger (guide) B2		 Downhill Visually Impaired 1:35.40 5 10 March
Super G Visually Impaired 1:36.96 5 11 March
Super combined Visually Impaired 1:35.50 (6) 55.32 (1) 2:30.82 13 March
Slalom Visually Impaired 56.74 (5) 58.33 (2) 1:55.07 4 18 March
Giant slalom Visually Impaired 1:14.95 (3) 1:13.86 (2) 2:28.81 14 March
Victoria Pendergast LW12-1 Downhill sit-ski 1:44.14 4 10 March
Super-G sit-ski DNF DNF 11 March
Super combined super-G sit-ski 1:44.49(8) DNS DNS 13 March
Giant slalom sit-ski 1:21.22 (9) 1:20.15 (8) 2:41.37 8 14 March
Men
Athlete Event Final Date
Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Rank
Mitchell Gourley LW6/8-2 Downhill Standing DNF DNF 10 March
Slalom Standing 48.69 (3) 53.63 (12) 1:42.32 6 17 March
Giant slalom standing 1:07.87 (5) 1:08.60 (8) 2:16.47 8 14 March
Super G standing 1:30.34 12 11 March
Super combined standing 1:27.13 (3) 49.77 (8) 2:16.90 5 13 March
Jonty O'Callaghan LW9-1 Downhill Standing 1:34.86 22 10 March
Slalom Standing DNF DNF 17 March
Giant slalom standing 1:15.64 (29) 1:16.58 (25) 2:32.22 23 14 March
Super G standing DNF DNF 11 March
Super combined standing DNF DNF 13 March
Mark Soyer LW11 Downhill Sitting DNF DNF 10 March
Slalom Sitting DNF DNF 17 March
Giant slalom Sitting 1:16.95 (22) 1:12.99 (16) 2:29.94 18 14 March
Super G Sitting 1:32.32 16 11 March
Super combined Sitting 1:33.24 (18) DNF DNF 13 March
Sam Tait LW11 Downhill Sitting 1:28.56 11 10 March
Slalom Sitting DNF DNF 17 March
Giant slalom Sitting 1:17.36 (24) 1:10.92 (13) 2:28.28 17 14 March
Super G Sitting DNF DNF 11 March
Super combined Sitting DNF DNF 13 March
Patrick Jensen B2
Lara Falk (guide)		 Slalom Standing Visually Impaired DNF DNF 17 March
Giant slalom standing Visually Impaired 1:16.55 (11) 1:15.61 (12) 2:32.16 11 14 March
Shaun Pianta B2
Jeremy O'Sullivan (guide)		 Slalom Standing Visually Impaired DNF DNF 17 March
Giant slalom standing Visually Impaired 1:25.97 (14) 1:21.88 (14) 2:47.85 14 14 March

Snowboarding
Women

Joany Badenhorst was injured in a training run just prior to the day of competition and was declared medically unfit to compete.[12]

Men
Athlete Event Race 1 Race 2 1/8 Q/F S/F Final
Time Rank Time Rank Position Position Position Position
Simon Patmore
SB-UL		 Men's snowboard cross 1:01.76 3 1:02.45 4 Q 1Q 1Q 1Q
Sean Pollard
SB-UL		 1:06.57 12 1:06.57 6Q 2 N/A
Ben Tudhope
SB-LL2		 1:03.74 12 1:00.64 5 Q 2 N/A
Men
Athlete Event Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Best time
Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Rank
Simon Patmore
SB-UL		 Men's snowboard banked 54.11 2 52.78 2 51.99 3 51.99
Sean Pollard
SB-UL		 57.11 6 53.84 3 55.39 7 53.84 5
Ben Tudhope
SB-LL2		 52.02 6 52.63 7 51.68 7 51.68 7

Media Coverage

Seven Network has an agreement with the Australian Paralympic Committee to provide coverage of Australia’s Winter Paralympic sport across Seven’s television, digital and print media assets to bring the stories of Australia’s winter Paralympic athletes to more Australians than ever before. Coverage will include a daily highlights show to be broadcast on 7MATE every morning, with an encore highlights on 7TWO and Channel 7 in the evening.[13] It is the first time a commercial television network has covered Australian athletes at the Winter Paralympics. During the Games, Channel Seven encountered criticism from former Paralympians and current athletes due to it limiting its coverage of the nine-day event to a one-hour highlights show the day after competition for Australian audiences.[14]

References
  1. "Dean appointed as the 2018 Chef de Mission". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  2. "Investment Allocation 2014/15" (PDF). Australian Sports Commission. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  3. "Investment allocation 2015-16" (PDF). Australian Sports Commission website. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  4. "Investment allocation 2016-17" (PDF). Australian Sports Commission website. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  5. "Investment Allocation 2017/18" (PDF). Australian Sports Commission website. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  6. Media Guide PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games (PDF). Sydney: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  7. "2018 Australian Paralympic Team Co-captains announced". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  8. "Australian Paralympic Winter Team for PyeongChang 2018 announced". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  9. "Pianta joins Australian Paralympic Winter Team ready to make history". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  10. "Badenhorst becomes first female Australian Paralympic Winter Flag Bearer". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  11. "Dual Paralympic bronze medallist Perrine named as Closing Ceremony flag bearer". Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  12. "Winter Paralympics: Australian para-snowboarder Joany Badenhorst crashes in training, ruled out of Games". ABC News. 11 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  13. "Seven Network to become first Australian commercial broadcaster of the Paralympic Winter Games". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  14. Spits, Scott (14 March 2018). "'They should be all over the media right now': Seven taken to task for Paralympics coverage". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
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